Lions and Tigers
by SPD Time Shadow
Summary: Ray/Lee friendship fic. Oneshot. When Lee decides he's not good enough for White Tiger X, Ray is on hand to make his partner see sense. During Season 3, between rounds 3 and 4 of the World Championships


The chalky white moon hung high in the pitch black sky over White Tiger Hills. Nothing stirred in the dead of the night; any birds or animals that inhabited the hills, no wind to rustle the leaves in the trees, no unwanted disturbances...nothing disrupted the peace and serenity of that night on White Tiger Hills, nothing except for Lee.

The blader cautiously crept across the floor of his cabin; each member of the White Tiger X team had their own cabin which was essentially their private area as well as sleeping quarters, but Lee was doing little sleeping. In fact, he hadn't slept well since the tournament began almost a month ago

As Lee hurriedly stuffed more clothes into his bag, he cast his mind back to when everything had started. It had been great; Ray had rejoined the group and the team were confident ahead of the tournament. In truth, Ray's return had made him feel slightly uneasy, maybe even inadequate in comparison and this had been a feeling which had grown rapidly over the past few weeks but he would never show his weakness to his leader...

It had all started so well, there was no denying that. There first match had come against old friend and two time champion Tyson, along with his new partner Daichi, but that hadn't phased the new Tigers pair as Ray and Lee beat them in a tag battle to claim an opening win.

But since then their form had deteriorated. Arguable underhand tactics had been the cause of their defeat to Barthez Battalion but then losing their tag battle with F Dynasty meant that White Tiger X had just one win from their opening three matches with two tough rounds still to go. Lee knew he had let the team down...he had lost to Miguel when they faced Barthez Battalion and then Ray had spent majority of the battle with F Dynasty trying to keep an out of control Galeon in the dish...

Lee's confidence had dropped immensely; he hadn't won a battle on his own since the start of the tournament and felt like more of a burden that Ray had to handle rather than his partner. That is why he had decided to leave and allow Ray to see out the final two rounds of the tournament without having an inadequate partner to worry about; it was for Ray, it was for White Tiger X, it was for the best.

He had packed away everything that he would need into his bag which he now slung over his shoulder. He opened the door of his cabin slightly, being greeted by the slight creek it made. He slipped out and headed towards the path that led up towards White Tiger Hills and began his descent away from his home and away from his team...

Lee had barely begun his walk when he heard a disturbance in the trees that lined the path. Natural instinct saw his right hand drop towards his launcher and his left into his pocket where he had placed his precious bey. He stood froze to the spot, both Galeon and his launcher held tightly in his grip; something was watching him...

His eyes darted frantically about the pitch blackness that clouded his view, unable to find the source of the disruption. Lee suddenly heard the familiar sound of a blade spinning and the gradual increase in the volume made him realise it was heading straight for him! He quickly withdrew Galeon from his pocket and, attaching it to his launcher, let it rip towards the source of the noise.

A clash of metal could be heard as the two beyblades began to battle. Lee couldn't see where the blade had been launched from but by the light of the moon he could just about make out the battle and began to drive Galeon fiercely on; anyone who intruded White Tiger Hills deserved to be taught a lesson.

'Attack Galeon!' Lee called, seemingly forgetting his attempt to creep away as quietly as possible as he had now been taken over by the need to protect his friends. Galeon was definitely winning the battle as the other blade took hit after hit; Lee was unsure how long his opponent would last but knew that it wouldn't be much longer.

In the midst of the battle, Lee's focus was disrupted by a movement in the trees above. The black haired blader seemed to see an open hand now extending from one of the branches towards the top of the tree. His theory was proved correct when the blade Galeon had been battling now left the ground and seemed to be magnetically drawn towards the hand.

But Lee wasn't willing to let his prey go so easily. 'Go Galeon!' he called as his blade sped towards another tree that was on the other side of the path. It raced up the trunk and across one of the longer branches before launching itself into the air and intercepting its opponent midflight. The blade was knocked to the ground, now motionless, while Galeon spun straight back towards Lee's hand, successful in its efforts.

'Who goes there?' Lee called out towards the figure as he watched the owner of the blade drop from the tree. As the blader was cast into the light of the moon, Lee was left shocked...

'Ray?' Lee said, stunned to see his partner stood before him. Ray crouched to recover his blade before coming face to face with his partner.

'Where do you think you're going?' Ray asked calmly. He had seen Lee leave and wanted answers.

'I...I was going to leave...so maybe you'd have a better shot at the finals without having to worry about me' Lee finally managed to say, looking down at the ground the whole time. When Ray had remained silent for a few minutes, the blader flicked his black mane back as he lifted his head to meet the eyes of his captain.

'Lee you're not going anywhere' Ray finally answered. 'You're as important to this team as any of us; we're a family and as family we stick together. Now you're gonna go back to your room, unpack your things and get some sleep before we head off to Egypt tomorrow for the match against the All Starz, got it?' Ray smiled; Lee wasn't really going to argue with him, and no matter how much his partner protested Ray knew he was always going to win this battle.

'But Ray...' Lee began to say, but Ray stopped him once again.

'No but's' Ray told him, 'Lee you're my partner, through thick and thin and this is no different. You just beat me didn't you? You're good enough to be my partner, always have been,' Ray smiled as he walked past Lee, back up the pathway to his cabin. As expected, Lee followed, smiling broadly as he was now filled with a fresh determination to not only beybattle, but to win.


End file.
